As expected, Meghan McCain announced her resignation from “The View” on Thursday morning.
.@MeghanMcCain announces her departure from @TheView at the end of the show’s season, saying “this was not an easy decision.”
“I’m just eternally grateful to have had this opportunity here so, seriously, thank you from the absolute bottom of my heart.” https://t.co/ZiP1UTs2xu pic.twitter.com/eLuEAJ4KLT
— The View (@TheView) July 1, 2021
During Thursday’s episode, McCain confirmed that she would be leaving at the end of the season, saying that she was going to “rip the band-aid off,” noting that “this is my last season of The View.” The departing co-host also joked that “if you want to fight a little bit more, I’ve got four more weeks.”
“This was not an easy decision,” McCain explained. “It took a lot of thought and counsel and prayer, and talking to my family and my close friends.”
“COVID has changed the world for all of us, and it changed the way — at least for me — the way I’m looking at life,” McCain added, before discussing her experience of pregnancy and childbirth during the COVID-19 pandemic and her “incredible life” in Washington D.C.
McCain spoke fondly of her experience on the show, and referenced her late fathers’ comments regarding “The View.” Several of her co-hosts, including Whoopi Goldberg, were gracious following McCain’s announcement, sharing stories of their time together. Even Joy Behar — despite some earlier eye-rolls — squeezed out a few pseudo-compliments among discussions of their on-screen clashes.
When McCain joined the show in October 2017, she said she was “honored and proud to be part of such an iconic show with a diverse, smart, strong and interesting group of women.”
“I’ve been a fan of the show for many years,” McCain added, “so taking my seat at that table is definitely a career highlight!”
The Daily Mail first reported that McCain was planning to leave the show after four years, with two years remaining on her contract.
“Meghan will announce her resignation on Thursday’s show,” a Disney source told The Daily Mail.
“The source added that her co-hosts, including Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sara Haines, Sunny Hostin, and Ana Navarro, ‘are not yet aware that Meghan has resigned,’” The Daily Mail added.
“We have tried to keep her, but she is adamant that now is the right time for her to leave,” the source said. “She will finish at the end of July 2021.”
The outlet also noted that, at the time of publication, neither ABC nor McCain had responded to requests for comment.
Fox News reported that a person close to McCain said that “It was her decision” to leave.
As Page Six noted, “At the beginning of the year, McCain sounded like she wasn’t planning an imminent exit from the talk show — despite her regular on-air clashes with Joy Behar, Whoopi Goldberg, and other more liberal co-hosts.”
“Because whether we like it or not, I’m not going anywhere on the show, Joy’s not going anywhere on the show, we all have to live and co-exist together just like Americans right now,” McCain had told Andy Cohen on “Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen” in January, “which is a little deeper of an answer, but we’re all going to try and co-exist and I really want to have us all move forward.”